Projects

The national Clothesline Project started with thirty-one t-shirts hung in Hyannis, Massachusetts in the fall of 1990. Since that time, projects have begun in communities all across the U.S. and in other countries as well.

The Clothesline Project is a visual display that bears witness to violence against women. During a public display, a clothesline is hung with t-shirts. Each t-shirt within the display has been decorated to represent a particular woman’s experience and has been designed by the survivor herself or by someone who cares about her.

All shirts decorated and donated to the Wood County project stay in Wood County for displays around the area. The shirts are considered “works of art” and are always displayed by following established security protocols.

The purpose of The Clothesline Project is four-fold:

1. To bear witness to the survivors as well as the victims of the war against women.
2. To help with the healing process for people who have lost a loved one or are survivors of this violence.
3. To educate, document, and raise society’s awareness of the extent of the problem of violence against women.
4. To provide a network of support, encouragement, and information for communities displaying The Clothesline Project.

Creating a t-shirt for The Project

The t-shirts in the collection follow the color code below:

RED, PINK, or ORANGE: For women who have been sexually assaulted (including rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, sexual imposition) or sexually harassed. Any type of non-consensual sexual activity constitutes a sexual assault.

YELLOW or BEIGE: For women who have been battered/physically assaulted in a domestic/dating violence situation. Domestic Violence also includes verbal, mental, and emotional abuse, as well as sexual abuse by a partner.

BLUE or GREEN: For women who were sexually abused as children.

WHITE: For women who have died of violence.

PURPLE/LAVENDER: For women attacked because of their sexual orientation.

For Women Killed: Friends or family may want to submit a decorated shirt that belonged to the victim. Many people choose to indicate that woman’s name, date of birth and death, hometown, as well as other information about her life.

Names: Naming the perpetrator is an important part of the healing process but, for legal reasons, shirts with the full names of perpetrators cannot be displayed. Please use first names only or initials of the perpetrator.

Please call The SAAFE Center Program Manager, Julie Broadwell at (419) 352-5387 if you would like to:

• Borrow part of the collection for a display (this can range from as few as 15 shirts up to 500)
• Decorate a shirt to add to the project
• Donate supplies so that someone else can make a shirt

There is no fee to host a display of The Clothesline Project. Supplies to decorate a shirt are provided free-of-charge by The SAAFE Center.

Donations to The Clothesline Project, however small, are greatly appreciated. See Getting Involved. In particular, the Project can always use solid-colored t-shirts without any lettering or designs, and art supplies. Monetary contributions are also accepted.

When special events are held, such as The Vagina Monologues, victims of violence can be overwhelmed with emotions and may re-experience trauma. The SAAFE Center provides volunteer advocates to staff Safe Rooms, a private space at which people can speak with an advocate about how they are feeling. The Safe Rooms are very important as the advocate can talk with the survivor through these emotions and provide support and crisis intervention.

Safe Room services are free. If a community or campus organization would like to have SAAFE advocates available at a presentation, contact Julie Broadwell at (419) 352-5387, at least 2 weeks in advance of the event.